I almost ran in anticipation to my mailbox after my late night biological anthropology class. I knew that the chances of this being there would be pretty high. Lo and behold!!! Tea time! This is just the kind of un-winding I need after two and a half hours of learning about apes.
First off, I was trying to be very careful about the steep temperature on this one. But I think I over dosed on the amount of leaves. I thought I had grabbed my 1/2 tsp. but I had my 1 tsp spoon in hand. So the 2 scoops was probably much much more than what I needed.
The first thing I noticed was that the steeped smell when I first added the leaves was almost reminiscent of coffee. The dry smell was very much banana. The color of this first brew was very dark, most likely due to my over use of leaves. (I’m planning on steeping them for a 2nd infusion later) The flavor is very different than what I first expected while reading about Hojicha. It’s very mild on the palate. Heavier than green tea, but lighter than black. I noticed it has less of a lingering “thickness” than a black would have. The flavor is very, very exceptional. I love it. The banana is awesome. I’m missing some of the coconut but there is another layer of something almost creamy that is lurking beneath the surface in this cup. There is a slight back of the throat note of vegetal flavor that I’m getting that isn’t my favorite, but again, this may be because of my over abundance of leaves!
So until next time, this has been a very nice cup of tea. 52 teas has yet to disappointing me with a blend. This is my 3rd sampling of their selection and it makes me wish for a bigger tea allowance!
